Mars and Venus
by Moon1
Summary: Takes place during the final episode. Marsala's thoughts as he leaves Nara.


Disclaimer: This is merely a work of fun. None of these characters belong to me. They belong to  
  
Universal. I'm just a penniless fan who expects no money from this.  
  
Mars and Venus  
  
By moon  
  
She is talking about rebuilding her farm. I am glad. No matter where she was, Nara Burn's heart was always here on Venus. This is where she was happiest, once. This is where she will be happy again.  
  
Without me.  
  
Of the three Homeworlds, Venus had been the hardest hit by War atrocities. Several times I myself nearly became subject to them…from both sides. I am a Neo-Sapien, but I am also an officer of Exo-Fleet. In my heart, then as now, my oaths to Exo-Fleet and my bond to my squad took precedent in everything. My honor shaped my actions, as much as the War had permitted. But for many people, all they saw was that I was Neo- Sapien. My brood-kin saw me as a traitor for fighting with the Terrans instead of against them. Terrans saw me as a monster, because I was one of "them," a Sape.  
  
Nara was never one of these.  
  
Already she is saying that she would like to go over some reconstruction plans with me. She sounds more nervous than simple plans warrant. I have been among Terrans, and Nara Burns, long enough to hear the unspoken plea. She wants me to stay.  
  
I want to stay.  
  
I cannot.  
  
After Venus was liberated we made regular visits to the hospital to see her brother James. I made him uncomfortable, so I would wait for Nara alone outside. During our last visit, I moved away from our E-frame and knelt to weed the lawn. I was… anticipating an invitation to help on the Burns' Farm after the War. I had only wanted to prove to Nara that I, too, could get my hands good and dirty. Because of that moment of carelessness, I was captured by a rouge band of humans determined to purify Venus of Neo- Sapiens, starting with me. Obviously, I live, but Nara's brother, James, lies dead because of me. His body battered and mostly broken, James fought his friends and died seeing me to safety. He did this, made this sacrifice, not for my sake, but for his sister's…for she could not bear to see me hurt…just as I could not bear to see her grieve over her brother's body.  
  
Family is---was---everything to Nara. She cares for our Able Squad as fiercely as she did her family, but there is an emptiness there that we cannot fill, a void that I will never be able to touch. Only a new family could hope to heal her.  
  
I cannot give her a family.  
  
I am not generous enough to…share her, or her genetic materials with others. Nor do I have the fortitude to see her care for another. Regardless, I cannot stay. My mere presence endangers her from others who will not let the War be over. I cannot be responsible for her death.  
  
I do not reveal my thoughts to her. I only tell her that my future now lies on a different path and cannot stay, but I will return to visit her…and her children. As I touch her face in farewell, I see in her eyes such fear and loss that I nearly renege on my decision. For her sake, I hold fast to my resolve. I manage to board our---my---E-frame and take off before I could be persuaded otherwise.  
  
Venus grows smaller.  
  
Her scent still lingers in the cockpit.  
  
I cannot stay with her. She deserves a family. I know this, yet it does not change the fact that I wish I could stay and give her everything. That it would be I who could father her children, not some Terran male who will never truly understand why she bolts from sleep to grope desperately for a mirror, or suddenly doubles over in pain cursing a scientist in the Amazon Jungle. Will he know that she is stronger than she thinks? Will he simply hold her until the pain passes and comfort her, as I never could?  
  
For the first time in my life, I bitterly regret being Neo-Sapien. What good is our physical superiority and our long lives without warmth, companionship? Without a legacy to pass on…to who? Soon the Senate will vote to cease the creation of any more brood vats. If that happens, then we are a race waiting for death, the only question being will we die quietly, or is there an even worse Phaeton among us? Someone who will use the Neo-Sapiens' survival instincts and twist them to his own ends, more than willing to drag our creators screaming into oblivion with us.  
  
No, Phaeton, my brood-brother, I will not allow your legacy to live. I will speak to the Senate and see you dead once and for all. Nara killed you to save us all once. This time it will be her legacy that will protect us from yours.  
  
Nara's legacy of family…and…  
  
One last brood.  
  
The only children of Mars and Venus. 


End file.
